homer's oil paintings of domestic american scenes called forth his deeper creative energies, but magazine illustrations of the same everyday activities provided his livelihood. the carefree quality of these scenes appealed to a country recovering from the civil war. americans turned to lighter concerns-- exalting the innocence of childhood, the therapy of the outdoors, the benefits of leisure. throughout his life, homer made seasonal excursions, especially to the shore in summer, to seek subjects for his illustrations and to pursue his painting. at the age of 37, he was at the exact midpoint of his life. acutely aware that his youth was behind him, he was bored by the life of an illustrator, which he called a treadmill existence. in 1873, homer spent his summer in gloucter, massachusetts. there began his first serious use of watercolors. among homer's contributions to american art, perhaps the greatest was his transformation of this medium from its limited use for colored drawings to an art form expressive in its own right. homer's gloucester scenes of children and outdoor life were a con